Houston Woods got a real jolt as he was drinking his morning cup of coffee: A meteorite crashed through his roof and lodged in his bed springs.

At least he thinks it was a meteorite.Specialists at Cumberland Science Museum agree. But they're sending the tennis-ball-size object, which looks like a lump of coal, to the Smithsonian Institution for analysis.

Woods said he and his wife heard a loud explosion Saturday morning. The wayward object had crashed through the roof and bedroom ceiling.

A neighbor who works at the museum said the lump has a thin, black layer common to objects that enter Earth's atmosphere.

View Comments

"I have no reason to believe this thing isn't a meteorite. If somebody's trying to pull one over on us, they're doing a pretty good job," said Louis Levine, collections manager and program specialist at the science museum.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.